Spiral

by Roderick Gordon

  The Styx woman hadn’t expected that.

  Now disarmed, she did the only thing she could. She seized hold of the man who’d been about to kill the Warrior larva, wrapping her arms and insect limbs around his body. She squeezed him hard, several of his ribs cracking at some volume. His feet were lifted from the ground as she swung him in front of her, shielding herself from the rest of the squad coming to the rescue.

  There were just too many for her.

  In all the darkness and confusion, shooting her wasn’t an option — they might hit the man in her grip. With Sweeney shouting directions, it took ten members of the squad to pry her loose.

  As she strained and shrieked and hissed at them, they held her.

  “Three . . . two . . . one!” Sweeney counted down, and they slung her back against the mound of beds. Then the whole squad opened up on her, the rapid rates of fire shredding her body.

  As she died, the former major from the British Army screamed one last time.

  When the sound of gunfire had finally petered out, Parry proclaimed “Echo” over the radio. Everyone withdrew from the factory grounds and formed a cordon in the road again.

  There was a low rumble, as if something massive was being dragged along the ground. Fire began to lick the insides of the windows, and burst from the vents in the roofs like red spears.

  “Incendiaries,” Drake said, carefully wrapping a sweater around a computer hard drive that he and the Colonel had retrieved from the security room. “Nothing will survive those temperatures. Which is the general idea.”

  Whistles blew. “To the rallying point,” men shouted, and everyone moved en masse to the far end of the parking lot on the other side of the road.

  They gathered around Parry, who was standing on a weapons crate with some sort of device in his hand. In addition to Eddie’s men, who kept to themselves in a small group, there must have been at least three hundred of the Old Guard there. Still wearing their masks, they stood in silence.

  “I know this has probably been one of the oddest missions I’ve asked you on . . . and probably one of the most harrowing,” Parry said, throwing a glance over the road. “But I want to thank all of you for your professionalism. It’s been an impeccably executed op —”

  Someone yelled, “Blowing your own trumpet again, Commander?” There were hoots of laughter, and the whole mood of the gathering was at once transformed. Some of the men were lighting cigars, while others took out hip flasks and began to hand them around.

  Parry tried to get some order back into the proceedings, although he was smiling. “An impeccably executed operation, like the ones we used to mount back in the day. Some of you have taken your fair share of knocks, but I’m pleased to report that there hasn’t been a single fatality on our side.”

  Everyone looked over to a Land Rover with its rear doors open. Although there were two men on stretchers inside it, there were another ten or so outside in the process of being treated, most having dressings applied to what were only minor injuries.

  “There’s Dad. I’d better see how he is,” Chester said, spotting his father in the group behind the Land Rover. He rushed off, leaving Will by himself.

  Parry continued, “And I call that a resounding success!”

  The crowd echoed their agreement.

  “Although the job is far from done and we’ve still got to root out the Styx here on the surface, today . . . , he said, taking a breath, “today we’ve diverted a catastrophe of global proportions.”

  “It’s over. We really stopped the Phase,” Will whispered to himself. With everything that had happened in the last hour, he’d rather lost sight of what they’d just accomplished. “We’ve bloody done it.”

  Parry was still talking. “. . . and I don’t think I’m the man to do this,” he said, holding up the device in his hand.

  There were shouts of “Go on, Commander!” but he shook his head.

  “No, I’d like my very old friend, who put his neck on the block for us today . . .”

  There was a groan from the crowd.

  “. . . to do the honors,” Parry went on. “Show yourself, Hoss!”

  A tall man pretended to hide himself in the crowd.

  “Come on — it’s not like you to be shy,” Parry teased.

  Will watched as the man lumbered from the ranks, noticing how he had to swing himself around to look at his comrades on the way over to Parry.

  The man took the device from Parry and held it high. “This is for all of us. And after dealing with those creepy crawlies in there, I’ll never complain about the pests on my allotment again!”

  There was a roar from the crowd.

  “Just a word of warning,” Parry said, managing to make himself heard as he scanned the crowd and found Will. “For those of you who haven’t seen much action, never look up when you’re this close to a major detonation. Now, go ahead, Hoss.”

  Harry hit the button and there was an almighty explosion. Part of the roof of the main warehouse blew heavenward, fire belching from the opening. Engulfed by flames, the rest of the roof collapsed, followed by the walls, until very little of the structure was still standing.

  Will found out why Parry had seen the need to warn him. After a few seconds, pieces of flaming debris began to drop not far from the parking lot, landing on the snow-covered ground and hissing away. But the Old Guard didn’t mind, cheering loudly and jumping aside to avoid them.

  As someone nudged his back, Will spun around to find Elliott behind him.

  “Hi there,” he said, happy to see her.

  “Hi,” she said, but she seemed preoccupied and didn’t return his smile. For a moment her gaze crept to the far horizon, in the opposite direction to the burning ruins of the factory.

  “Why did you want Stephanie with you?” Will asked, trying not to show that he minded.

  “Because she’s one of us now. Someone’s got to show her the ropes,” Elliott replied distantly. “And because I have this feeling . . .” She was rubbing the nape of her neck.

  Before Will had the opportunity to ask what she meant, she announced, “Ah, here they come.”

  Eddie and Stephanie were strolling over, and part of Will was sad. It was different now that all these other people were involved. It wasn’t just him, Elliott, and Chester, with Drake to lead them, up against the Styx.

  Some of the Old Guard, fueled by whatever was in their flasks, were talking and joking boisterously among themselves. Others, their arms on each other’s shoulders, were singing what sounded like a victory hymn.

  They met the tyrant’s brandished steel,

  the lion’s gory mane;

  Something dawned on Will. As tough as the last year had been for him, he realized that without the Rebecca twins and the Styx and the constant danger, he would never have the friends he had — the very best friends — friends he could count on however dire the situation.

  And if the Styx were beaten and the threat removed, everything would change.

  They bowed their heads the death to feel;

  who follows in their train?

  Perhaps they’d all go their separate ways, living lives completely apart from one another. Elliott had her father back now, and Chester his parents. As for Drake, he’d probably go off and find himself another cause to champion.

  And what sort of life would Will lead once all this was over? Where exactly would he end up? Back in Highfield with his mother and her turbocharged nose? He couldn’t see how that would work out. Worse still, he’d have to start school again.

  The prospect of returning to a normal life filled him with the darkest dread.

  “My father’s going to give us a lift part of the way in the Humvees,” Elliott said, yawning. “I just want to get home to the Complex again.”

  “Yes, home agai
n,” Will said.

  THE BUGATTI VEYRON shot across the grass fields of Windsor Park, narrowly missing a clump of trees.

  “You’re going too fast,” Rebecca One said as the car launched from the top of an incline, then slammed back onto the ground again, jarring her and Vane.

  “Slow down. I think we’re he —”

  With a snarl, Vane yanked the steering wheel around and stood on the brakes. The car went into a 360-degree spin, its tires spewing out snow.

  As the engine stalled, Vane burst from the car, her insect limbs slashing the air.

  Rebecca also stepped from the car, and Vane immediately rounded on her. “What have you done?” the Styx woman screeched.

  Vane began to cough, then doubled over. With a gush of yellow fluid she vomited something from her mouth.

  It was an egg pod.

  She dropped to her knees, taking the pod between her hands and holding it before her as if she was praying.

  “What a terrible, terrible waste,” she said huskily. “My babies need a host. They’re going to die.”

  Driven by Captain Franz, the Mercedes sped across the grass and pulled up beside the Veyron. Alex was also in bad shape, stumbling from the vehicle as Rebecca Two opened the door for her. And the Styx woman had to be helped the short distance over to her sister.

  As they saw each other, Alex and Vane didn’t speak, but their insect limbs clicked together in communication. Still on her knees, Vane held up the egg pod to her sister. Alex shook her head, her expression one of deepest despair.

  Vane rose unsteadily to her feet, then the pair of adult twins swung on the younger ones.

  “Why did you do this? You’ve ruined it for all of us,” Alex accused Rebecca Two.

  “I didn’t sanction anything. I don’t know why we’re here,” the girl replied, turning to her sister.

  Vane began to stride toward Rebecca One as if she meant to do her harm. “Why did you make us leave our babies and all those hot bodies?”

  Rebecca One was unfazed. “That’s why,” she said, spinning around on her heels.

  In the distance, smoke drifted up into the sky.

  Vane and Alex tried to absorb what they were seeing. Still in the thrall of the Phase, their faces were gaunt, their almost translucent skin stretched tight over their skulls, and their eyes purple-rimmed.

  “I tried to tell you in the car, but you weren’t listening,” Rebecca One said softly.

  There was a distant flash, then the sound of an explosion rolled toward them.

  “That was our factory?” Vane asked.

  Rebecca One let out a shuddering sigh. “Yes, it’s all gone. All our warehouses will have been taken out, and everyone along with them.”

  “NO! NO! NO!” Alex screamed at the top of her lungs.

  “But how did you know this would happen? Was that the call on your cell?” Rebecca Two asked.

  Her sister nodded. “Yes. It was a warning,” she said, her voice cracking. “That little creep, Will Burrows, along with Drake and that half-breed Elliott, and all the others we should have buried months back — they’re behind this. They’re to blame.” She was fighting back the tears and took a moment before she went on. “I knew the force of numbers against us were too great. In the time we couldn’t have done anything.”

  “If we can be got at like this, we’re not safe anywhere,” Alex said.

  “It’s Romania all over again,” Vane added, her voice hollow. “Now there aren’t enough of us to see the Phase through. It’s over.” She opened her hand and let the egg pod fall to the snow.

  “No, it’s not over,” Rebecca One said resolutely. “I wish I could have saved more of the sisters, but at least I got both of you out.” She went to Vane and Alex, and laid her hands on their arms. “And we’re going to split you up to help improve our chances.”

  “Why? To do what?” Rebecca Two asked.

  Rebecca One didn’t look at her sister, switching her gaze between Vane and Alex. “There might still be time to do something Topsoil. I don’t know if it’ll work, but we can attempt to induce some of the younger sisters. Then we might have enough of you to get the Phase under way again.

  “But the main thing . . . ,” she said, letting go of Alex but still leaving her hand on Vane, “. . . is that you and I are going somewhere where these vile Topsoilers can’t touch us. Somewhere where we’ll have all the time in the world. Somewhere where the conditions for the Phase should be perfect . . . just perfect.”

  DRAKE HAD CONNECTED the hard drive from the factory security system to a laptop. He then typed wildly on this for several minutes before sitting back and stretching his arms. “I could do with some extra pairs of eyes over here,” he said.

  Will, Elliott, Parry, and Sweeney gathered around him. “I’ve broken the encryption — it was nothing special. This drive contains the last twelve or so hours of footage from the onsite security system.” He leaned forward and typed in several more commands. “And I’m now going to run the output in a mosaic on the main display, so each of you pick yourselves a couple of cameras to watch. It’ll be playing back far faster than normal viewing rate, so the moment any of you spot anything interesting, just holler.”

  Will and the others lined up in front of the screen and waited with bated breath. “Lights! Action!” Drake said, pressing a key. A grid of ten different monochrome images came on-screen and began to play jerkily.

  Will was scrutinizing his two scenes, both of which he thought he recognized. The uppermost seemed to be of the factory reception area, and the second showed a stretch of the corridor leading from it. The reception camera was angled so that he had a view through the glass doors of the entrance, where it was evidently still nighttime.

  The others had divided the rest of the scenes between them, but Parry didn’t seem at all happy with his choice. As he watched what the two cameras inside the main warehouse had captured, he edged a little closer to the screen to scrutinize one of the bodies in the beds, which seemed to be stirring. Sergeant Finch had wheeled himself beside Parry and was also watching intently with him, absentmindedly stroking a cat purring on his lap.

  But as both Parry and Sergeant Finch continued to peer at the body, it began to writhe violently. From the neck to the groin, it burst open, and Styx Warrior larvae wriggled out. If it could have been made any worse than it was, the fact that it was being shown at an accelerated speed didn’t help.

  Parry recoiled as Sergeant Finch shouted, “God’s holy trousers!” so loudly that the cat on his lap took fright and bolted. “It’s like a flippin’ sausage splittin’ down the middle when you overcook it,” he added.

  “It’s an abomination,” Parry croaked. “What I saw in the factory was bad enough, but that defies description.”

  “Focus, Dad, focus,” Drake urged him. “We need confirmation that we finished the job.”

  This sent Parry into a mumbled tirade, of which the others could only catch “teaching your grandmother to suck eggs, are you?” before he straightened his shoulders and began to concentrate properly again. In the semidarkness, flickering images of the Styx women would suddenly come into view, scuttling around like insects as they either went about impregnating more humans or fed on fresh meat.

  “Got a Limiter in mine, but he’s not in uniform,” Elliott announced as her camera revealed one of the Styx soldiers guarding the main gate. “Two Limiters,” she corrected herself when a second soldier came into view. As she saw increasing numbers of them, Eddie came over to watch with her, but made no comment.

  Chester was in the small canteen just off the Hub where he was making tea for everyone while his mother prepared some sandwiches.

  “Gone very quiet out there,” he observed, half glancing through the open door. Then he went back to topping up the last of the mugs with water from the kettle.


  “I’m just so glad you made it back safely,” Mrs. Rawls replied.

  “I’ve got a car entering by the front. Time is nine fifteen,” Elliott reported as an expensive-looking vehicle appeared at the main gates and was allowed through.

  Drake nodded. “The registration number might be useful, but I won’t stop the playb —”

  “More cars,” Elliott interrupted him.

  Chester scooped out the tea bags from each of the mugs with a spoon, then added the milk.

  “I’ll take these through and hand them out. How are you getting on over there?”

  Mrs. Rawls didn’t answer, her back to Chester as she continued to make the sandwiches.

  Chester stepped nearer to her. “Are you still only on the butter?” he asked with surprise. He couldn’t understand why it was taking her so long.

  “I’m just so glad you made it back safely,” she said again.

  Chester shook his head. “Mum, are you OK?”

  She didn’t answer, meticulously spreading butter on a piece of bread, which was already thickly buttered.

  “I’ve got both Rebeccas in the corridor,” Will announced with a shudder. “I think one’s talking on a cell phone.” Then the Rebecca twins disappeared from the scene.

  “I’ll slow the playback a bit,” Drake said, typing on the laptop.

  “Too late, they’ve already gone out of view — but I’m pretty certain that one was speaking on her cell,” Will said.

  “I’ve picked them up in the main warehouse. Keep the playback at that speed,” Parry said. “This is interesting. They’re moving rapidly . . . but what are they up to? See that — they’re hauling a couple of the Styx women out with them!” He struck the floor with his walking stick. “They’ve taken them out of the warehouse!”

  “Now I’ve got a Rebecca with a Styx woman heading toward the front entrance,” Will said.

  Elliott took over. “And I’ve got one of the Rebeccas around the back. She’s got a Styx woman with her, too.”